Hi Folks,
The rubber coating on all of my buttons on the DT are becoming sticky. The only exception is the Function button. I never used any type of cleaner on it, however I popped off one of the Trig buttons and tried to clean it with a paper towel and rubbing alcohol but it’s starting to wear off the paint.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? I opened a ticket w/ Elektron to see if they can send me new buttons.
2 Likes
As a rule, suggest keeping your gear away from direct sunlight. Long term exposure seems to cause the constituent chemicals to alter, leading to stickiness. 
2 Likes
The same thing is happening to the buttons in my OT mkII. I bought it new two years ago and I never left it in direct sunlight. This is really annoying. Some buttons became sticky (as if they had some kind of glue on them), it’s very hard to get it out, I managed to partially clean it out from a couple of buttons but now those buttons look blacker and feel different to the touch…
Elektron instruments have impressive build quality, this shouldn’t happen, I’m very annoyed.
Send pictures to Elektron. Raise a ticket. Ask them to send replacements free of charge.
The more people do this, the more manufacturers will take notice.
Elektron are Swedish, so cold climate, but that doesnt excuse them covering the buttons in something that melts. It happened to the pitch and mod wheels on my moog sub37. Total mess.
5 Likes
Damn, I hate this coating, and Oleds too, neither last long, wish Elektron did not use either in current range.
6 Likes
can you take the buttons easily off and change them? if this fate awaits us all i want to be prepared.
on other gear i removed the buttons, used some alcohol to remove the sticky stuff and set em back in. i hope this is possible too with elektron gear.
i wish they would offer button and encoder sets (optionally without rubber).
1 Like
I agree. I actively try and avoid buying products that use this coating. I’m gutted to see this happening to the new machines as I know that eventually this will happen to them. 
Why is this happening? Can you prevent it? Are every newer machine destined for this?
The mk2 machines has been around for a while, havnt seen this on any or heard about this problem until now. But ive seen this happening to similar products (Reson soundcard)
I want to say that sort if coating almost inevitably goes sticky someday, usually takes like 10-20 years, possibly some batches of buttons weren’t cured properly. More extreme conditions can speed it up I think. You can usually wash it off with rubbing alcohol but it’s a pain. *always proceed with caution using rubbing alcohol as it can take paint away and mess up some plastics.
Baby powder as the solution, quite funny. 
Should you use it when you notice stickiness or even before as precauition? Will the surface go back to the original feel?
Damn this sucks so hard, relly like my mk2s. And was thinking of really stick by them. Still might do, if Elektron has replacement parts/plans for this. Im in Sweden, so climate often quite cold, hopefully that will keep this from happening for a while.
I’ve spoke a to a few friends who use Fixative spray. The sort you use for Charcoal/Graphite drawings. The problem is when your oil from your fingers remains on the buttons and bonds to it. The fixative spray prevents this. Disclaimer though if your not sure do a test first.
1 Like
Yeah, knobs doesnt feel like that of a big issue, easy to replace. The buttons though 
But how do you guys feel going forward, you feel safe with the baby powder/baking soda solutions, or perhaps elektron spare parts/service?
Afaik you can just pop them out, no need to unscrew the faceplate (?)
3 Likes
Maybe it’s because I live in the UK and it’s therefore generally cold as balls here, but I have never seen this happen to any piece of hardware whatsoever. The only exception is when the coating on something from say, 30-40 years ago has degraded and broken down, but definitely not a product made this side of the millennium. Hopefully by the time this happens to my DT I’ll be able to replicate new buttons for it.
Correct, they can be removed as easily as any mechanical keyboard keycap.
3 Likes
That’s mad! Seriously, it’s disappointing. I had a Push 2 a few years ago and thought the finish looked really nice. I’ve seen old products deteriorate to the point where they need to be handled with gloves or else they can cause harm to skin, it pains me to think of my beloved DT possibly doing that one day. MK1 owners will have the last laugh after all.
To be fair it‘s only on the buttons. Elektron didn’t coat the whole thing. If you wanted you could just remove the rubber coating entirely.
Still seems unnecessary…My fingers never slipped from an mk1 button into eternal darkness 
Not digitakt but I just picked up my zoom h5 recorder and the rubberised covering feels like a sugary sweet has melted on it. It’s been in the plastic case for a while. … maybe it just needs some air to dry out…batteries are fine, it’s just the actual case of the recorder.
Hahah you wish. Nope, its screwed.